Railway brake-beam.



S. A..GRONE.

I RAILWAY BRAKE BEAM. APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 25, 1908.

902,138; Patented Oct. 27, 1908.

F'IQ- E FIG. 1

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SETH A. ORONE, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

RAILWAY BRAKE-BEAM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 25, 1908.

Patented Oct. 27, 1908.

Serial No. 450,162.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SETH A. CRoNn, a on its upper and lower sides withshoulders citizen of the United States, and a resident of East Orange,in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Railway Brake-Beams, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in railway brake-beams, andconsists in the novel features hereinafter described, and particularlypointed out in the claims.

My invention pertains to truss-beams and resides more particularly in anovel strut and means for securing the same to the compression member,as hereinafter explained.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed descriptionhereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which:

Figure 1 is a top view of the middle portion of a railway brake beamconstructed in accordance with and embodying the invention, and Fig. 2is a side view of the strut, with the truss rod shown in centraltransverse section and the compression member in transverse section onthe dotted line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 10 designates the compression member, 11 the truss rodand 12 the strut, the truss rod being of customary character and securedat its ends to the ends of the compression member, as usual in trussbeams.

The compression member 10 is formed of a rolled flanged section and ispreferably of T-shape in cross-section as shown.

The strut 12 is of cast metal and at one end engages the middle portionor bend of the truss rod in a customary manner, while at its other endsaid strut engages the compression member and is secured thereto bymeans of a clip 13 and rivet 1 1. The outer end of the strut 12 isslotted or recessed, as at 15, to receive the web 16 of the compressionmember 10, and the extreme end surface of the strut is curved, asdenoted by dotted lines in Fig. 1, so as to ride against and firmlyengage the flange portions of said member 10. The base of the recess 15in the strut is also curved, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, so asto facilitate any necessary angular movement of the strut to thestraight position shown in Fig. 1 in applying it to position between thecompression member and truss rod.

17 which are correspondingly inclined so as to afford wedge surfacesforcoaction with the inturned ends or lips 18 of the clip 13, which lipsare inclined to correspond with the outlines defined by the shoulders17.

The clip 13 will preferably be a forging and consists of a bar of aboutthe width of the strut bent to closely encompass, transversely, theflange portion of the compression member and the outer upper and lowerside portions of the strut, with the lips or ends 18 of said bar turnedinwardly to engage the shoulders 17 on the strut and bind the latter tothe compression member.

In applying the strut 12 to the other parts of the beam; the usual endnuts securing the ends of the truss rod may be loosened and the strutintroduced between the truss rod and compression member, after which theclip 13 may be applied over the compression member at one side of thestrut (to the right of the strut, looking at Fig. 1) and slid along thesame toward and onto the end of the strut, the lips 18 of the clippassing upon and finally, with firmness, wedging against the shoulders17 and binding the clip, strut and compression member to gether. Ithereafter to further secure the clip, strut and compression membertogether and prevent the clip from losing its position during theemployment of the brake-beam, apply the rivet 14 transversely throughsaid parts, as shown. In instances where it may not be desired orpossible to loosen the ends of the truss rod preparatory to applying thestrut to position, I will first place the strut between the compressionmember and truss rod in an angular position with one end of the strut onthe middle bend of said rod and the other end of the strut against thecompression member, with the web 16 of the latter in the recess 15, andthen force the outer end of the strut along thecompression member untilthe strut attains its straight position, whereupon I will apply the clip13 and rivet 14 in the manner hereinbefore explained.

The clip 13 affords a very desirable and efficient means for binding thestrut and compression member together, without adding undue weight tothe beam or expense to its manufacture. It is desirable also that theouter end of the strut socket against the compression member and seat orrest on a ice horizontal portion of the same, since thereby durabilityof construction is attained and the weight of the end of the strut issupported by the compression member rather than by the lower side of theclip 13.

hat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. A brake-beam comprising a compression member, a truss rod and astrut, said compression member being a rolled section and the end ofsaid strut engaging said member and being seated on a horizontal portionof the same and having shoulders on its upper and lower sides, combinedWith a clip transversely embracing said compression member and havinginturned lips en gaging said shoulders; substantially as set forth.

2. A brake-beam comprising a compression member, a truss rod and astrut, said compression member being a rolled section and the end ofsaid strut engaging said member and being seated on a horizontal portionof the same and having shoulders on its upper and lower sides, combinedwith a clip transversely embracing said compression member and liavinginturned lips engaging said shoulders, said shoulders and lips beinginclined so as to wedge together; substantially as set forth.

3. A brake-beam comprising a compression member which is of T-shape incross section, a truss rodand a strut, the end of the latter beingrecessed to pass on the web of the compression member and formed Withshoulders on its upper and lower sides, combined with a cliptransversely embracing said compression member and the end of said strutand having inturned lips engaging said shoulders; substantially as setforth.

4. A brake-beam comprising a compression member which is of T-shape incross section, a truss rod and a strut, the end of the latter beingrecessed to pass on the web of the compression member and formed withshoulders on its upper and lower sides, combined with a cliptransversely embracing said compression member and the end of said strutand having inturned lips engaging said shoulders, said shoulders andlips being inclined so as to wedge together; substantially as set forth.

5. A brake-beam comprising a compression member which is of T-shape incross section, a truss rod and a strut, the end of the latter beingrecessed to pass on the Web of the compression member and formed Withshoulders on its upper and lower sides, combined with a cliptransversely embracing saidcompression member and the end of said strutand having inturned lips engaging said shoulders, the outer end of saidstrut being curved to permit angular movement of the strut in applyingthe same and to enable afirm seating of the end of the strut against thecompression member; substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, this 24th day of August A. D. 1908.

SETH A. CRONE.

Vitnesses ARTHUR MARION,

)HAs. C. GILL.

